Medicines (Prescription in Hospitals)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make it a priority to publish data provided by IMS on the prescription of medicines in hospitals for the treatment of(a) cancer, (b) rheumatological conditions and (c) hepatitis C; [179448]

(2) when he expects is to publish the data provided by IMS on the availability and prescription in hospitals of medicines which have received positive National Institute for Clinical Excellence approval. [179449]

The Department has recently reached agreement with IMS on the provision of data on the use of medicines in English hospitals. The intention is that the Department will publish information annually, six months after the end of the period. The first publication will be in the summer of 2005. Together with the annual publication of information about prescriptions dispensed in the community, this will give a much fuller picture of the use of medicines in the national health service.